Forums/Z31P/z31-basics basic-modifications-basic-questions-aka-the-newbie-forum/What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
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jerZ: (2010-05-02 14:30:19)
Hello
As you guys know, VG30ET Turbo engines are hard to come by and can be an expensive time consuming process. And even if you happen to find one, most likely it will need a rebuild. So a turbo swap can easily run you about 4K if you have a mechanic do it. For that price I can just sell my 89Z NA and buy a decent 90-96 Z twin turbo for about 10K and save myself the headaches.
So my question is, what will be the best way to add horse 8) power and torque without going turbo or supercharge. Lets say 2K worth of upgrades not counting the labor.
Thanks
JerZ
Russ84na: (2010-05-02 14:55:00)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Since I seem to be the first one up this morning…
Before you get blasted with turbo, turbo, turbo…
It's not cheap to get power out of a NA VG30 and when you are done you won't have nearly as much power as a turbo charged VG30.
That being said, if you are like a few of us and just want to have an engine that is plenty powerful enough for the street and autoX then search and you will find it.
The combiination to get power out the VG30 is more air in and more out out…same as any engine.
You will need to rework your air filter, plenum and heads. Then cams and redo the bottom end at least freshen it up with new bearings etc. New oil pump, water pump, electric fan.
So far this is the same stuff you need to do to any turbo engine.
On the exhaust side, headers new exhaust.
Nistune to tune the engine, Cam gears.
The 89Z came with about 130 to 135 HP to the wheels. Doing what is listed above you should get to 170 to 190 range.
The next step would be upping the compression in the engine and doing more drastic head and intake work. Custom headers…now you are in the 225 to 250 range. You are also above your 2K budget.
The good thing is that most of what you have done can be used to go turbo later on and get more power.
Again search the site. Start with the post in the sticky section three above this one and good luck.
Russ
jerZ: (2010-05-02 15:13:16)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Russ,
Thanks for the very informative reply. This sounds more doable.
JerZ[quote]Russ84na wrote:
Hello
As you guys know, VG30ET Turbo engines are hard to come by and can be an expensive time consuming process. And even if you happen to find one, most likely it will need a rebuild. So a turbo swap can easily run you about 4K if you have a mechanic do it. For that price I can just sell my 89Z NA and buy a decent 90-96 Z twin turbo for about 10K and save myself the headaches.
So my question is, what will be the best way to add horse 8) power and torque without going turbo or supercharge. Lets say 2K worth of upgrades not counting the labor.
Thanks
JerZ
Since I seem to be the first one up this morning…
Before you get blasted with turbo, turbo, turbo…
It's not cheap to get power out of a NA VG30 and when you are done you won't have nearly as much power as a turbo charged VG30.
That being said, if you are like a few of us and just want to have an engine that is plenty powerful enough for the street and autoX then search and you will find it.
The combiination to get power out the VG30 is more air in and more out out…same as any engine.
You will need to rework your air filter, plenum and heads. Then cams and redo the bottom end at least freshen it up with new bearings etc. New oil pump, water pump, electric fan.
So far this is the same stuff you need to do to any turbo engine.
On the exhaust side, headers new exhaust.
Nistune to tune the engine, Cam gears.
The 89Z came with about 130 to 135 HP to the wheels. Doing what is listed above you should get to 170 to 190 range.
The next step would be upping the compression in the engine and doing more drastic head and intake work. Custom headers…now you are in the 225 to 250 range. You are also above your 2K budget.
The good thing is that most of what you have done can be used to go turbo later on and get more power.
Again search the site. Start with the post in the sticky section three above this one and good luck.
Russ
BlazzinZ88: (2010-05-02 15:26:04)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Its not hard or that expensive to turbo your na engine. I did it myself years ago when it was very contaversial that the na engine could handle boost. It is now an accepted fact that na engines can be boosted.
I also did this with no mechanical knowledge as this was the first car I ever worked on. Just used a haynes manual basic tools and instructions off the internet. It was not hard and the whole swap cost me about $800.
bleakdragonmage: (2010-05-02 15:27:10)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
swap in a V8…
ZFast88Z: (2010-05-02 15:30:55)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
125 horsepower for 700 bucks. How you ask?
RedBeauty84ZX: (2010-05-02 16:06:52)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Its actually pretty cheap to do a turbo conversion on a Z31.
Matt89: (2010-05-02 16:09:25)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Why not just spend ~800 on a turbo swap for your current motor?
Not trying to be that "just go turbo" asshole but it sounds like you want to get some good power out of your na engine with bolt-ons. Gool luck with that. I am willing to bet this car is your daily driver and you probably dont want to have it down for a long time. FYI you can do a turbo conversion in a weekend.
BlazzinZ88: (2010-05-02 16:45:15)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
im not sure where you live but in ohio this guy is selling everything needed to turbo a NA for $400. Just buy a gasket kit and a good clutch on top of that and your set. http://z31.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11686
Then in a weekend you have your car to 200hp. 250 probably if you get a cheap manual boost controller with it. Then save up for a 3" turbo back exhaust and call it a day unless you want to shoot for above 300hp. You don't even need to add an intercooler if you don't want you can go plenty fast non intercooled.
Hitman Z: (2010-05-02 22:15:04)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
You talk about supercharger and turbo, but you never talk about Nos..................I am with this guy here.........Add Nos!!!!!!!!!!
+++1
BlazzinZ88: (2010-05-02 22:22:42)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
I don't talk NOS simply because I prefer to allways have my power not only when I got my bottle filled plus turbos are legal to use on the streets. If u only want power to use at the track go ahead and spray. But u can still tubo a na for less than a nos setup if you are smart about getting the parts.
michaelp: (2010-05-02 23:29:25)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
And don't forget that boost gets you laid.
BlazzinZ88: (2010-05-02 23:47:53)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Hell yeah the boost makes em loose lol
[quote]michaelp wrote:
I don't talk NOS simply because I prefer to allways have my power not only when I got my bottle filled plus turbos are legal to use on the streets. If u only want power to use at the track go ahead and spray. But u can still tubo a na for less than a nos setup if you are smart about getting the parts.
And don't forget that boost gets you laid.
tert72: (2010-05-03 22:32:16)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
I have a 2+2 NA auto.. BLEH. i picked up an 87 NA2T with a 5 speed manual tranny attached to it for 450 bucks. LOL how much faster do you think that will make my car?
BlazzinZ88: (2010-05-04 03:07:31)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
low 13s is very easy for a turbo with 3" exhaust, boost controller, and custom intercooler. my turbo swap has my car at 13.01 for a personal best with a 186,000 mile engine cranked to 16psi on all stock components. she smokes like a turbo diesel truck going down the track lol.
Can't wait to get the built engine in her with the new fuel system and the big turbo. Its going to be a monster =)
Mitchd03: (2010-05-04 09:46:39)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Get some hot cams, get the heads ported, gut the upper intake manifold, port the lower intake manifold to match the heads and UIM, and some custom tuned length headers. And nistune. That's 200hp ish.
Alternatively:
SATAN top mount turbo manifold, $675 for externally wastegated turbo, shipped.
Nistune, $400?
450hp worth of T3/T04E $620.
500cc injectors, say $350.
SATAN fuel rail, $210 shipped.
That's $1935, not counting labour, not counting fiddly bits such as oil lines, gaskets, studs and a dump pipe. That'll make your zed plenty fast. Then add an intercooler on top of that. That doesn't require the use of ANY hard to find factory turbo parts. Don't even need the turbo crossmember and engine mount.
Or, instead of nistune, lets say someone sells stock turbo ecu and injectors for $100 the lot (that's what I paid for mine, in AUD), that's $510 that's suddenly fallen off the price, but you're limited to, oh, around 300hp… that's more than you can get from an n/a without going to crazy.
michaelp: (2010-05-04 16:22:28)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Who told you 450hp is plenty? :nanan?re
Mitchd03: (2010-05-04 21:45:22)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
Better than 150. Three times better, in fact.
NissanXRMA: (2010-05-04 22:37:53)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
When your on a budget you can skip alot of that. I got a Satan relocator(300 instead of 675) and a t04b. JWT dirt cheap used with 420cc injectors and cobra MAF. Also other stuff/intercooler. I sourced parts cheap. Some things you dont need such as billet fuel rails and other stuff, unless you got money to throw around.
clostoyo: (2010-05-04 23:01:52)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
[quote]NissanXRMA wrote:
Get some hot cams, get the heads ported, gut the upper intake manifold, port the lower intake manifold to match the heads and UIM, and some custom tuned length headers. And nistune. That's 200hp ish.
Alternatively:
SATAN top mount turbo manifold, $675 for externally wastegated turbo, shipped.
Nistune, $400?
450hp worth of T3/T04E $620.
500cc injectors, say $350.
SATAN fuel rail, $210 shipped.
That's $1935, not counting labour, not counting fiddly bits such as oil lines, gaskets, studs and a dump pipe. That'll make your zed plenty fast. Then add an intercooler on top of that. That doesn't require the use of ANY hard to find factory turbo parts. Don't even need the turbo crossmember and engine mount.
Or, instead of nistune, lets say someone sells stock turbo ecu and injectors for $100 the lot (that's what I paid for mine, in AUD), that's $510 that's suddenly fallen off the price, but you're limited to, oh, around 300hp… that's more than you can get from an n/a without going to crazy.
When your on a budget you can skip alot of that. I got a Satan relocator(300 instead of 675) and a t04b. JWT dirt cheap used with 420cc injectors and cobra MAF. Also other stuff/intercooler. I sourced parts cheap. Some things you dont need such as billet fuel rails and other stuff, unless you got money to throw around.
So true! I just sold a set of 460cc rx7 injectors for $50. My cousin ran 13.2 in the 1/4 with stock fuel, stock t3 @ 16 lbs and intercooler with a 30 tranny and open diff. Just set your goals and buy you weapons acordingto it.
Mitchd03: (2010-05-05 20:31:15)
Re: What's the best way to add HP to a 89Z w/o turbo.suprchrger?
I know there are much cheaper ways of doing it, I was merely stating if it was too hard to find second hand parts, on a budget of $2000, you can convert one of these to turbo very easily using brand new parts.
The turbo parts for my car has cost me $300 AUD. I am yet to turbo it because I don't have the facilities at the moment. The only things I might possibly need that I don't have already are oil and water lines for the turbo, gaskets, tools, and a full set of new exhaust manifold studs. The 86 Turbo ECU and Injectors are currently installed on my car cost me $100, and I paid $200 for an entire turbo car that has had an injector fire. All the metal bits required are there, turbo, manifold, crossmember etc. I sold the 5 stud hubs off the turbo parts car and got $150 back, So effectively I've got an entire turbo conversion for $150.